Isolation Ritual

CW: Suicide, Infanticide

Background

On February 4th, 2021, Miskatonic University student, Tricia Moon, committed suicide while staying at the University’s new quarantine accommodation. Police found her in the accommodation’s en-suite bathroom; her wrists were slit and a haphazard suicide note and various symbols were scrawled around the bathroom in blood. She was the fourth MU student to take her own life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moon was also the third student to stay at the new quarantine accommodation, an old house on Parsonage Street, which the University has since named Parsonage Place. The university had been debating purchasing the house for years, and finally acquired it during the pandemic to create dedicated quarantine accommodations.

Unknown to MU, Parsonage Place was, centuries ago,the site of Keziah Mason’s home, the infamous witch of Arkham. After the university began to house students in the attic, Mason’s spirit became active again. Mason preys on the inhabitants of Parsonage Place in a bid to return to a physical form. Aside from Tricia, 4 other individuals live at the property, and are now being targeted by Mason.

Briefing

The Agents are summoned to a briefing in a SCIF at the FBI Boston office by their case officer. Their case officer informs them of the murder and states that several known hypergeometric symbols were found at the suicide site. The Agents are told to investigate the suicide and contain proliferation of the symbols. The case officer provides flimsy NIH credentials and a cover story explaining that agents are part of an NIH task force sent to MU to assess patterns of suicidal ideation concerning campus housing, the pandemic, and social isolation. They are given a contact in MU’s administration, the addresses for MU and Parsonage Place, and a sedan registered to the NIH. Arkham is a modest drive from Boston.

Miskatonic University

Miskatonic University is a large, primarily Georgian, university campus in the heart of Arkham. As the university settles into a compromise between following COVID protocols and providing a “normal” collegiate experience to students, some students and faculty can be found walking around during the day in between classes and extracurricular activities. Asking around to learn about Tricia Moon, or any of the other campus suicides requires a successful Luck Roll and yields one piece of the information from the Campus Buzz section. Points of interest on campus include the Administration Offices, the Orne Library, and Olmstead Hall.

The Administration offices host the majority of student records. The Agents’ POC, Mark Vega, is an amicable, middle aged man distraught by the suicides. He is helpful, but lately speaks in moody ramblings.Vega is able to pull basic information for all the suicide victims, including which dorms they lived in, whether they had ever been in quarantine, and academic standing. Any other records require a Persuade -10% roll to convince Vega the Agents’ NIH mandate grants access to protected information (family finances, health accommodations, etc.). MU does not believe the prior suicides are directly connected to Tricia’s.

The Orne Library is open to the public during business hours, and restricted to students and faculty via keycard access after hours. The restricted wing of the library requires a successful Persuade roll to convince a librarian to grant access. Agents with Occult 40% or History 70% or higher can utilize the library to learn the history of the Parsonage Place property, and its infamous inhabitant, Keziah Mason. In reputable historic sources Mason is described as a middle aged woman swept up in the witch trials hysteria of the 17th century when it came to Arkham. Occult sources indicate she is a bonafide witch and leader of an Arkham coven of immense power. Both conclude Mason disappeared from the Salem Gaol before she stood trial.

Olmstead Hall is available to the Agents so long as they go to investigate Tricia Moon’s regular dormitory. Her friend and roommate, Helen Barnes, is in mourning. As long as the Agents do not antagonize her, she provides key insight into Tricia’s life, mainly the following.

• Tricia was a neopagan, following Wicca, and was very interested in Arkham’s history
• Tricia texted Helen that the “energies” in quarantine were off, Helen rationalized this as a coping mechanism for the isolation
• Helen delivered Tricia’s essentials (toiletries, clothes, etc.), while at the house she noticed it had a strange layout and there was a foul, almost sulphuric smell in the air. She assumed these were industrial grade cleaning products.
• She “found” Tricia after Tricia wouldn’t open the door when Helen was dropping off groceries.

Campus Buzz

• Parsonage Place is haunted by the ghost of a woman betrayed by her husband.
• Tricia Moon is the third suicide victim to have stayed at Parsonage Place, the other two were a junior, Lyle Crowley, and a grad student, Joy King.
• A cult was on campus a few weeks ago, and they spoke to Tricia before she caught COVID (they were just evangelical missionaries; Bureaucracy 40% or better and a chat with campus police disproves this).
• The administration is covering up black mold in Parsonage Place.
• Parsonage Place is a weird living arrangement, prior tenants still live there among the quarantined students.

Parsonage Place

Parsonage Place is a Georgian multifamily accommodation. The manor has been subdivided into studio apartments. There is a shared laundry in the basement. There is a faint hint of sulphur in the air. Tricia’s room is the attic, closed off by the police. Entering the bathroom for the first time triggers SAN 0/1 from violence. An agent who spends prolonged amount of time in the attic feels that the space is fundamentally wrong. A successful INT x 5 roll reveals that there shouldn’t be this much room in the attic provoking deep unease and  SAN 0/1 from the unnatural.  A successful Occult roll examining the symbols in the bathroom reveals most of them are common Wicca iconography, save one on the floor, which appears potentially unfinished.

Mason will attack Agents in the attic after they spend 4 hours on site, or if she detects they are attempting to banish her. Brown Jenkin may attack or appear to the agents whenever they are on site.

Ted Hathaway

Ted Hathaway is a MU sophomore and Mason’s next victim. He lives on the second floor, directly under the attic. Ted is anxious and disheveled. His hygiene has taken a nosedive since quarantine began. A successful Persuade -20% roll convinces him to open up about his experiences (continuous nightmares) since he moved in. Ted is distrustful of authority following several police interrogations.

Three days after the Agents arrive on the scene, Ted’s sanity will completely shatter. He attempts kidnaping and ritually sacrificing Ryan Palmer in the attic, easily overpowering both Harper and Clarice. If Ted is successful, Mason will permanently possess him and flee Arkham. Ted will try to stop the Agents should they attempt to banish Mason’s spirit.

Harper and Ryan Palmer

Harper is a single mother who lived in Parsonage Place before the university bought it. Ryan is her infant son. They are due to move out by June. She is cooperative, and pities Tricia’s fate; they bonded over shared interest in Arkham’s weird history. Tricia gave Harper her metal bracelet, which contains an engraved metal chit depicting a strange symbol; the symbol is recognized as an Elder Sign by an Agent familiar with the ritual. If the Agents have seen the unfinished symbol in the bathroom, with a successful INT x 5 roll they deduce that Tricia was likely trying to draw the symbol before her passing (SAN 0/1 from the unnatural).

Most days she works as a waitress at a nearby diner; Clarice usually watches Ryan.

Clarice Freeman

Clarice is the former owner of Parsonage Place. She claims the house was fine until the university started housing students in the attic; her father always told her to keep the space vacant. She used to love the place, but between the god-awful smell and all the tragedy, she’s eager to leave. She is usually in Harper’s apartment, watching Ryan.

Resolution

Agents should learn the troubling history of Parsonage Place and conclude the property is haunted. From there, they could fabricate a reasonable excuse to vacate the property (gas leak, fire, etc.) and destroy it. Destroying the property in a way that actively endangers the inhabitants inflicts SAN loss as normal (Ted is considered “innocent” until day 3). Destroying the property awards the agents 1d4 SAN; learning a year later MU built new student housing on the lot removes sanity gained this way.

Alternatively, enterprising agents could use the restricted wing of the Orne Library (use Luck, Occult, or Persuade) to find an unnatural tome which may yield useful rituals for permanently banishing Mason’s spirit. While The Elder Sign provides temporary reprieve, Closing of the Breach (Restless Spirits) (Activation: an hour, Cost: 30WP, 1d8 SAN) permanently banishes both Mason and Brown Jenkin. Permanently dealing with Mason and Brown Jenkin rewards the players with 1d10 SAN.

Stats

Keziah Mason

Witch of Angles; Bride of the Unnatural

INT 15 POW 20

WP 15

ARMOR: See TRANSCENDENT

SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Flight 20%,  Occult 80%, Unnatural 40%

ATTACKS: Dreams from Beyond 60% or 80% (See DREAMS FROM BEYOND), Unnatural Slam 50% damage 1d6.

DREAMS FROM BEYOND: Once per night, Keziah can target any person sleeping at Parsonage Place with this ability. If the target is sleeping in the attic, Keziah uses the 80%, if they sleep elsewhere, she uses 60%.On a failure, the target has an uneventful night, but cannot shake the feeling they are being watched for as long as they remain in the house. On a success, Keziah invades the target’s dream and shows them horrifying visions of things man was not meant to know. The target suffers SAN 1d10/1d20 from the unnatural. Targets who lose 10 or more SAN in this way (even over multiple nights) lose 1 point of permanent POW.

NONCORPOREAL: Keziah is not a physical entity and has no DEX score. Use her POW in place of DEX to determine when she acts each turn.

TETHERED: Keziah’s spirit is confined to the house she once occupied in life. She cannot venture beyond the walls of Parsonage Place in her spectral form. She prefers to remain within the attic, where her presence is strongest.

TRANSCENDENT: Keziah is beyond all physical attacks. Hypergeometry damages her normally. When suffering damaging effects from hypergeometry, reduce Keziah’s POW. If her POW ever reaches zero, she is destroyed.

RITUALS: Exchange Personalities, Prayer to the Dark Man, The Voorish Sign, Withering

SAN LOSS: 0/1D8

Brown Jenkin

Loathsome, tittering thing; Servant of Nyarlathotep

Brown Jenkin has the stats of a Witch’s Familiar from Page 230 - 231 of the Handlers Guide.

Credits

Isolation Ritual was written by L0CKE for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CZm04brG9kf7mq55bpsC-lUwx6jkSKMgFWwpxBUb4kg/edit